moonslav59

I'm fine with talking about 2019 and beyond on this 2018 thread. That being said, and bring this back to 2018, I'm wondering if the cold temperatures had something to do with Sale's problems last night. I'm not reaching for excuses, but he didn't even wear a warm long sleeve undergarment. I hope it's warmer for his next start, but I am far away from giving up on Sale for this year and next. Now, about the future. There is no soon-to-be-FA SP'er in MLB today that I would give $31M x 7+ years.

Note: I said I wanted Betts over Sale, but that doesn't mean I don't want Sale. I want him, but I would not pay him Price money.

Michigan might not jump to #7, like I have them, but they belong in the top 10 over Oregon and Okl. . I agree Oklahoma should top West Va. Michigan started as #12 and they just beat a damn good Wisconsin team (#14). True, Oregon just beat #7 Washington, but they started out at #17 not #12. Oklahoma started as #11 and did not play. I think Michigan's win over Wisconsin is enough to have them jump over OK.

I used to be surprised. Not anymore.

As expected...posters quickly jumping off the bandwagon, again.

Maybe the new top 10 will be... 1. Alabama 2. Ohio State 3. Clemson 4. Notre Dame 5. LSU 6. Texas 7. Michigan 8. UCF 9. Florida 10. Oklahoma/West Virginia

We have to get to Cole early and often tomorrow.

Sad, sad, sad...

I hear you, but for me, saying I want Betts more doesn't take anything away from my love for.... Chris Freakin' Sale!

Hard to fault Betts, since often the best pitch to hit is the first one, but yes, Verlander looked like he was losing control.

It might have been enough tonight as Nunez making those two plays might have kept us up 2-1.

No, I actually think winning the year before makes it harder to win again. No team has won back to back since '99-'00. The SFG are the only team to win 2 in 3 years ('10 & '12). Complacency is as real as experience- not that I'm calling the 'stros complacent, but team focus on learning ways to beat the "team to beat", and i think the Sox improved enough to beat them.

Yes, they are, but it might be difficult to pay 3 guys $95M. (Price, Betts & sale)

True. If it's between Betts and Sale, Betts all the way.

What happened to the game thread?

Being last year's champion means very little, if not nothing. Teams change too much from year to year. We are not the same team and neither are they.

If we win this game, which is no sure thing, my guess we will then be favorites to win the whole series.

Holt starting at 1B. I like it. I'd rather see JD at clean-up, but I have no complaints. 1. Mookie Betts, RF 2. Andrew Benintendi, LF 3. J.D. Martinez, DH 4. Xander Bogaerts, SS 5. Rafael Devers, 3B 6. Brock Holt, 1B 7. Ian Kinsler, 2B 8. Sandy Leon, C 9. Jackie Bradley Jr., CF

One big reason the Yanks broke the team HR record is their short RF. The fact that Vaz hit one there is just payback.... not luck.

While Sale and Price are certainly different people, it's not a "flawed assumption" that Sale wlll decline in the near future. It's an extremely likely reality with the only question being "when". Not just when, but bu how much. The evidence is in nearly ever pitcher ever. There are actually quite a few pitchers who do very well after 31 and some that do even better than before 31. Some even do very well into their late 30's. Really, with Sale, if you want him back after 2019, you have to be prepared that he will start to decline in 2020. It's not the type of contract DD should enter under complete denial that Sale will last for 7 years, which I doubt any GM has ever had that denial in a long term deal. If they did, the deals would be structured differently. A slight decline from being the best may not be all that bad. A decline like Price's would not be good. 4-5 good years? Define good. He isn't not going to be a 6 fWAR pitcher at age 35. And at some point in his next deal, he is gong to be a heavily paid mediocrity. really, what it comes down to is, will the good years be enough to justify the bad ones?. Would this be 4-5 good years? Age WAR 31 6.5 32 6.0 33 5.5 34 5.0 35 4.5 36 3.7 37 3.0

6-4, but will there be more?

If this was a Sox game, the board would have been roasting Cora alive for those moves... until they worked....

I'm not saying I want to sign Sale to a similar deal as Price, but I do think he has a good chance at being very very good for a long time. (BTW, I thought the same about Price.)

I think that's a reasonable opinion, but i also think there's a good chance he stays very good for maybe 4-5 more year.

Maddox is not on their "graduated list". Travis and Poyner are 25. Lin is 23. They look at upside potential.